Martha Dominguez, the winner of the Democratic primary for State Board of Education, sent a letter trying to withdrawal in April, but it was ruled invalid.

However, one of her opponents still believes either she should step down or the state Democratic Party should honor her withdrawal request.

A copy of Dominguez's Certificate to Withdrawal was sent to the El Paso Times over the weekend, showing that she tried to drop out of both the primary and general election.

The certified document was sent by Dominguez to the Secretary of State on April 25.

However, the Secretary of State notified Dominguez that they could not carry out her request.

"It (the certificate) is not valid," Dominguez said Monday. "I checked with the state and they said it is not valid."

Rich Parsons, spokesman for the Texas Secretary of State, said the last day to withdrawal from a primary race was March 12. On top of that, the letter was sent to the wrong agency.

"Any request to withdrawal after that would have missed the deadline," Parsons said. "It is also my understanding that she submitted it to the wrong place. It came to the Secretary of State's Office and it should have gone to the state (Democratic) party."

Parsons said because the letter was flawed it was completely invalid for the primary.

The last day to withdraw from the November general election is 74 days before election day, or mid-July, Parsons said. If Dominguez wants to withdraw she would have to resubmit the letter.

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Dominguez, who is an administrator in the Ysleta Independent School District, told the Times two weeks ago that she is planning on running in November.

She received 56 percent of the vote and defeated El Pasoan Andres Muro and Loretto's Sergio Mora in the primary.

The victory came even though she had stopped campaigning and attending forums.

Dominguez said she tried to pull out of the race because of personal reasons, but once she saw she had won, she began to prepare to run in November. She said she has taken care of those personal issues.

"That whole week, I started emailing (secretary of state) to ask what happens and they said I was OK to run," Dominguez said.

The certificate of withdrawal did not say why she wanted to get out of the race.

Democratic primary candidate Mora said he is disturbed by the fact that the Secretary of State's office didn't tell Dominguez to contact the state party or didn't notify the party of her intent to withdrawal.

Mora said according to his interpretation of the election code, Dominguez missed the deadline to have her name removed from the ballot, but not withdrawal.

He feels the secretary of state should have let the party know so they could honor her withdrawal and appoint a different candidate.

"I have talked to various party leaders and we are concerned that the Republican Party will use this certificate of withdrawal to eliminate the Democratic candidate," Mora said. "I think her request to withdrawal from the primary and general election should be honored and the Democratic Party should appoint someone to run in the general election."

Mora said he will take legal action if necessary.

Liza Montelongo, a former YISD board of trustee member, agrees with Mora's opinion.

Dominguez's husband had told Montelongo that she was dropping out because "she couldn't handle it," Montelongo said.

"We have a lot of problems (in Region 19)," she said. "It's not just El Paso (Independent School District), it's Ysleta and Tornillo, too. We need someone who is passionate and wants the position so they can make some changes for our community."

But Parsons said that if Dominguez pulled out now, the party could not replace her, with the exception of a few instances such as a serious illness.

Dominguez' opponent in November will be Republican incumbent Carlos "Charlie" Garza, who is also an assistant principal with the Clint Independent School District.

Garza has questioned if Dominguez will be devoted to the office if elected because she has already tried to quit.

Dominguez said she is prepared to take on the responsibilities of the position.

Aaron Bracamontes may be reached at abracamontes@elpasotimes.com; 546-6156. Follow him on Twitter @AaronBrac.